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Kiss Hershey Back

Kiss Hershey Back

Volunteers are needed for Kiss Hershey Back, a township-wide cleanup May 7 that is led by a group of Penn State College of Medicine students to make the Sweetest Place on Earth also the cleanest place on earth.

Kiss Hershey Back! is a township-wide cleanup effort led by Penn State College of Medicine students to make the Sweetest Place on Earth also the cleanest place on earth. This project was started five years ago by five first-year medical students who wanted to give back to the community.

Each month, the Community Service team at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, learns about a different community service activity being performed by members of the Penn State Hershey campus. At a recent monthly meeting, medical student David Baird shared information about Kiss Hershey Back

Every year, Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and Penn State College of Medicine welcome a new class of medical students who will call this small town home for the next four years. In addition, more than 1 million tourists visit Hershey as they seek to satisfy their sweet tooth cravings. Even though this high flow of tourists contributes greatly to the local economy, it is also responsible for much of the litter around the streets and parks. Wanting to give back to a community that has welcomed them with open arms, a new group of medical students organized the second annual Kiss Hershey Back, the Derry Township Cleanup Day.

Last spring, more than 700 community members turned out on the Saturday before Earth Day to make the sweetest place on Earth into the cleanest place on Earth. The first annual Kiss Hershey Back, an initiative led by students from Penn State College of Medicine to clean and beautify Derry Township, removed 28 cubic yards of litter and several old tires from the streets and parks and saw the planting of several young trees.